More details surface for Mars-based reality show

If you want to undergo eight years of daunting physical and psychological training, only to then be shipped off on a spaceship never to return to Earth, all while being a part of the most ambitious reality show ever conceived, you just need to be 18-years-old and have a “deep sense of purpose.” Those are the basic requirements to be considered as part of the surreal Mars One project.

Announced last year, Mars One aims to send people to the Red Planet in the year 2023, for the enjoyment of us Earthlings. The project actually has real funding as well as real NASA astronaut consultants — it is not just a crazy pipe dream (at least not entirely). Now, the group behind the project is detailing the kind of people it wants to send to Mars.

According to a recently issued press release, applicants need to have the aforementioned “sense of purpose” as well as a willingness to build and maintain strong relationships with others and the capacity for self-reflection. Candidates also need to be resilient, adaptable, curious, and resourceful. It literally sounds like the kind of thing you would see at a casting call for Survivor.

And so the spirit of this project as a glorified reality show begins. Things are about to get real in just a few months, as the selection process will begin later this year. It will be very transparent, as users from across the globe will be able to chime in and choose who they thin should be among the lucky four people who will be trained for a space mission like no other.

The rest of the timetable is still the same as it was when Mars One was first announced — by 2016, special cargo shuttles will be sent to Mars to begin laying the groundwork for when the first batch of humans arrive in the early 2020s.